Consumption of fuel in steam-boiler and other furnaces



UNITE STATES PATENT CHRISTIAN BURCKHARDT, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

CONSUMPTION OF FUEL IN STEAM-BOILER AND OTHER FURNACES.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 6,503, dated June 5, 1849.

T 0 all whom t may concern Be it known that I, CHRISTIAN BURCK- HARDT, of Cincinnati, in the county of Ham ilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Consumption of Fuel, and that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the principle or character which distinguishes them from all other things before known and of the usual manner of making, modifying, and using the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, which illustrates the same, in which- Figure l. is a vertical longitudinal section. Fig. 2. is a sectional plan. Fig. 3. is a cross section on the vertical dotted line a?, Fig. 1. n

The nat-ure of my invention consists in applying decomposed steam at a high temperature to the products of combustion above the coal or other fuel, together with a due pro- ,portion of atmospheric air, the whole of which commingle, and by which all the combustible mat-ter inthe fuel is consumed.

The drawing represents the application of m improvements to the furnaces of steam boile swhich will serve to illustrate the principle, and from this its application to other purposes will be readily comprehended. In the usual place at the front of the boilers the Furnace is located. The grate bars G, in 1s furnace are placed much nearer the boilers than in ordinary furnaces, and the space below said bars is also smaller; in this latter space there is a tank L, filled with Water, as is usual in some other furnaces. The grate bars G, areround, and revolve on bearings front and back; they project beyond the furnace in front, where they bear pinions (g) which gear into a worm wheel on a shaft K. that extends across the front of the furnace, and may be turned by being geared to any moving power through the medium of the pulley I, which keeps the grate bars constantly revolving and removes the ashes, prevents clinkers forming and saves the necessity of stirring up the lire. J ust behind the fire there is a bridge of lirebrick, in which a pipe D is bedded; this pipe D, is connected with the top of the boiler or steam chamber by a pipe (c) the pipe D receives an intense heat from the furnace, the flame of which iirst impinges upon the bridge in which it is situated, di-

rectly at the front of the flue: there is another iire bridge or partition just behind the one before named, which has the bottom of the boiler resting on it, and only extends down nearly to the bridge at D; behind this last named bridge or shield a pipe E, runs across the iiue from one side to the other, in which there is a row of small holes, this pipe extends along the furnace on each side to the front and across the front, as shown'in Fig. 2; the side pipes are pierced with .holes in like manner to that which extends across behind the bridge, but the front has no holes in it. This pipe E. communicates with the pipe D. by a short pipe E. Above that portion of the pipe r). which crosses the flue behind the bridge, there is a similar pipe F. which is supplied with air from the air flues hereafter described, and discharges it through small holes like those in the pipe E.

The air flues A and B are representedv in the drawing by colored lines; the right hand ones by red lines; the left hand ones by blue lines: these iiues open into the space below the grate, as clearly indicated in Fig. l. thence they extend back a sufiicient distance in the direction of the smoke flue, and on each side thereof, inclining upward till they nearly reach the level of the bottom of the flue, thence they cross over under the smoke flue to opposite sides, and thence return back to a point nearly over their commencement, and open into the fire chamber over the fuel, and under the pipe E. through an oblong expanded orifice B. see Fig. l; by this arrangement a current of air is kept up from the space below the grate through an extended tube, where it is heated to a certain degree; and then discharged into the gases arising from the fuel, and that created by the decomposed steam, and thereby a perfect combustion is produced.

The smoke flue beyond the bridge at F is contracted to one fourth or less of the ordi nary size of lues in like situations, and it is made to follow the curvature of the boiler', as shown in the cross section Figx. where is also shown the relative position of the tlues A. a and B Z) at those points. The reof the flue under the boiler, and shaping it to the ligure of the lower part of the boiler, adds greatly to the economy of the fuel, While the perfect combustion by the employment of the decomposed steam, and atmos-v 'pherlc air above the fuel, in the manner set forth, greatly increases the heating capacity and decreases the gases Which are to be carried off by the smoke pipe; and by this arrangement it becomes necessary to divide the furnaces when more than one boiler is used,

leaving one fire to each boiler, with a diVi-' as new, and for Which Idesire to secure Letn The employment, arrangement, and combination of apparatus, constructed substantially as herein described for consuming the gases arising from ignited fuel, by the introduction of decomposed steam, or the gases resulting therefrom, and atmospheric air, air in a highly heated state over fire. I also claim the revolving grate, constructed and operating as herein above described and made known CHRISTIAN BURCKHARDT.

lVitnesses WM. GREENOUGH, J. J. GREENOUGH. 

